


this is home

by cataclysm_of_the_masses



Category: The Masked Singer (US TV)
Genre: Canon Trans Character, Gen, Gender Dysphoria, Gender Issues, Trans Character, Trans Female Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-27 07:02:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30118980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cataclysm_of_the_masses/pseuds/cataclysm_of_the_masses
Summary: are you tired of me yet? I'm a little sick right now but I swear - when I'm ready I will fly us out of here...
Relationships: Phoenix (The Masked Singer US) & Piglet (The Masked Singer US)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 4





	this is home

**Author's Note:**

> With the current reveal, I had a thought, and this happened... I know it's much shorter than what you guys are used to, and I'm sorry about that!
> 
> NOTE: Trigger warning for dysphoria and related issues. Also note that I'm not an expert on this topic, so I do apologize if I got anything wrong.

Phoenix places her hands on the dresser, staring into the mirror, and she is very much _not okay._ The walls of the dressing room are so small, so confining, so trapping, and the fuzz that coats her mind isn't exactly helping matters.

She's vaguely aware of the clock tick, tick, ticking behind her. It's nauseating.

_God,_ her reflection mumbles at her. _You're looking pathetic._

She brings one hand up to run along the line of her beak, grimacing. The angle's too sharp. Phoenix ruffles her feathers to try to cover it up, then polishes up the thin layer of lipstick. After a second, she lets go, observing. Looks half-decent... to the blind.

_You're not a girl,_ her reflection laughs back at her. _You never will be._

Phoenix inhales sharply, glaring at the mirror, then sighs, because _he's right, isn't he?_ Either look like a girl or stop pretending to be one.

She steps back, quiet as she burns away the tears, and snatches a pillow from the couch, cramming it under her dress, the dress she'd had shipped to her in a discreet box, bought anonymously. They _can't know._

And staring at herself, in the mirror, with the dress enunciating just how distinctly _masculine_ she looks, how messy and how completely not divine - oh, it irritates her, sets her fuse off, swims around her and suffocates.

God, it _hurts._

Phoenix stumbles back, hitting the wall of her room. The pillow she'd stuffed between her feathers is now catching flame, cotton licking away to expose what she truly was.

_Fraud. Hack. Liar. Cheat._

A knock from the door - Phoenix shoots up, trying to swipe the evidence away, to hide the various makeup products on the counter, before anyone sees, they can't see, they _can't -_

And then the door opens and _he's_ standing there and Phoenix wants to cry all fucking over again.

She turns to him, golden eyes wide, expecting. She's not sure _what_ exactly, just that she is. Yelling, screaming, insults, thrown furniture...

"Do you want a lollipop?"

At her stunned stare, Piglet quietly lets himself into the room, closing the door with a soft _click._ He rummages in his pockets for an extra, handing it over - it's a brilliant orange. Phoenix can't help but smile at the gesture.

"...You're not mad?" she croaks out after a moment lapses, reaching to take the sweet.

Piglet furrows his brow, as if he were unaware that the normal response was something completely different. "Why would I be mad?" He scans Phoenix, up to down, within one blink. "Whatever makes you happier, I'm okay with, _milady."_ He grins, enunciating his point with an exaggerated bow.

And Phoenix does cry all over again, but she's not alone this time, citrus melting on her tongue, a tacit affirmation no thanking could truly do justice to. The thoughts clawing at her sputter out, fires deprived of oxygen.

Maybe it's okay after all.


End file.
